Sheet-feeding mechanism for paper and the like



E. E. PALMER. SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE-APPLICATION HLED NOV. 29, 1920- Patented 001;. 25. 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- INVENTUR. 15 (g E. E. PALMER. SHEET FEEDING MECHANISMFOR PAPER AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1920- I Patented Oct. 25, 1921;

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENT ER.

I E. E. PALMER. SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM- FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE.

PP LICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1.920.

- Patented 001;. 25, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTUR.

fidwwwl OFFICE.

ERNEST n. PALMER, or, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR To TORONTO TYPEFOUNDRY COMPANY, LIMITED, or TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

SHEET-FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 25, 1921 Application filed November 29, 1920. Serial No.427,096.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST E. PALMER, of the city of Toronto, in thecounty of York, Province of Ontario, Canada, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain,=have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-Feeding Mechanism for Paper and the like, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanism of the well known typein which the individual sheets are feathered .out and fed forward from apile of sheets by combing wheels, adapted to be thrown and held out ofaction as soon as they have fed a sheet to a certain predeterminedposition and until such sheet has been removed. I

More particularly the invention relates to feeders of the type in whichthe combing wheels are thrown out of action by means of a reciprocatingcut-out rack which is put into operative connection with means forlifting the combing wheels by the lifting of a detector finger by asheet passing under the .same.

In such mechanism it is my object to provide a construction in which thetransfer or feed drum which feathers the sheets is con trolled tooperate only while the combing wheels are operative, to provide improvedmeans for throwing the combing wheels out of action, and to providesimple and effective dabber mechanism to hold the remaining sheets whilethe combing wheels are raised and the firstsheet is being drawn away bythe mechanism to which sheets are being fed- I attain my object by meansof the constructions hereinafter described and illus-' trated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan View of part of asheet feeder provided with my improvements;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 a vertical section of part of the same showing particularly thecombing wheels and means for throwing the same out of action;

Fig. 4 a rear view of the same parts;

Fig. 5 a side elevation, partly insection, of part of the operatingmechanism for the transfer or feeding rolls;

Fig. 6 a rear elevation of the dabber mechanism; a

Fig. 7 a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 a side elevation showing. the rela tiv-e positions of the dabberoperating cam, the crank disk operating the feed roll and cut-out rack,and the cam for lifting the combing wheels.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin the different figures.

1 is part of the transport board of the sheet feeding apparatus providedas usual with feeding tapes 2 Operated in any suitable manner. 3 is thetransfer or feed roll between which and the curved guides 4 the bank ofpaper is passed, which paper by the operation of the feed roll isfeathered out as shown, this arrangement being old in the art.

The feed roll is operated by the pivoted rock arm 5, which carries apawl 6 engaging the ratchet wheel 7 fast on a stub shaft 54L driving thespindle of the feed roll 3 by means of the gearing 42. This rock arm hasan adjustable bolt and slot connection 8 with one end of a connectingrod 9, the other end of which is connected by an adjustable bolt andslot connection 10 with one end of a lever 11 of the first orderfulcrumed on the'frame of the machine, and which is operated by arocking member 12 pivoted on the frame of the machine and engaging theupper end of the lever by a pin and slot connection 13. This rockingmember is actuated by means of the pivoted connecting rod 14, the otherend of which is connected by a wrist pin with a crank disk 15 on theconstantly running shaft 16 of the apparatus. This shaft is actuatedinany ordinary manner as will be understood by those conversant with theart.

The rocking member 12, it will be noted, is formed of two arms, oneconnected with the lever 11 hereinbefore described and the otherconnected by means of a pin and slot connection 17 with the cut-Out rack18 slidably supported on the frame of the machine. This rack thus has aregular reciprocating movement imparted thereto while the machine is inoperation. The particular function of this cut-out rack is to raise theto the mechanism to which they are fed. The

iournaled in the frame of the machine.

combing .wheels are carried on gear boxes 19 formed as bellcrank leversand journaled on the constantly, rotating shaft 20, which is driven inany manner known in the art, the combing wheels being driven by a trainof gearing 21 from this shaft so that the combing wheels are constantlyrotating when the machine is in action.

22 is a bell crank lever fulcrumed on the 2 a stationary part of themachine, the combing wheel then being inits lower position engaging thetopmost sheet of the feathered bank of sheets. By rocking the cam to theposition shown in Fig. 3, the combing wheel is raised.

The operating and controlling mechanism for the cam is substantially asfollows: 27 is a detector finger secured to a shaft %8 0 this shaft 28is secured an arm 30 which normally engages a shoulder 32 formed onthe'hub of the cut-out pawl 81 pivoted on a downward extension of thecam 24. This detectorfinger 27, as is common in the art, extends over a.grooved pulley 29 over which the paper-passes from the transfer board tothe mechanism to which it is'to be fed. Normally the detector fingerdrops down into the grooved pulley as shown in Fig. 2. The passage of asheet of paper, however, raises it to the position shown in Fig; 3. Thismovement lifts the rock arm secured to the shaft 28 and releases thecut-out pawl 31 and allows its end to drop down by its own weight intoengagement with the cut-out rack 18. The result of the pawlbeing'brought into engagement with the out out rack is that on themovement ofthe rack to the left as shown in the drawings, the cam 24 isforced to the positionshown in Fig. 8, and the combing wheels thusraised. The instant the rear end of the sheet of paper passes from underthe detectorfinger, the finger is free to dropand releases the rock arm30 to reengage the shoulder 32 of the pawl 31. Continued movement of therack to the left brings the shoulder into position for reengagement withthe arm, which-promptly drops into place. Movement of the rack to theright then disengages it from the pawl'and leaves the latter free tolift as the spring 26 returns the cam 24 to the position shown in Figs.1

and 2. From the above descriptioniit will be seen that the lifting ofthe combing wheels is effected positively and not by the snapping actionof the springs, thus avoiding the noise and jar of spring lifts and thetrouble and expense of replacing broken springs.

I finditvery desirable that the operation of the stepwise movement ofthe feed roll should occur when the combing wheel is in operation andonly at such times. I therefore provide the following mechanism wherebythe movement of the combing wheel operating mechanism controls theoperation of the feed roll. On the shaft 33, to which is connected thebell crank lever 22, I secure an arm 34, which, by means of the connecting rods 35 and 36 and the bell crank levers 37 and 38, actuatestheslide 39 provided with a slot 40 through which passes the spindle of theratchet wheel 7. The upper end of the slide is provided with a curvedsurface 41 adapted to engage the pawl to raise it out of engagementwiththe ratchet wheel, the pawl at such times sliding idly backward andforward on the curved surface 41. It will thus be seen that the raisingof the combing wheel also throws the feed roll out of gear.

I find it desirable when the top sheet of the feathered bank of sheetsis being drawn away by the mechanism to which the sheet is being fedthat the next sheet should be temporarily held to prevent it being drawnforward with the top sheet. I therefore provide a dabber 43 whichoperates between the combing wheel and the feed roll. This dabber isbrought into operation at or aboutthe moment that the feeding movementof the transfer roll ceases. The dabber is actuated by a cam, 44 fast onthe constantly justable swinging movement on the end of 47 is securedtoa shaft 49 suitably journaled longitudinally of the apparatus, to whichis secured a'disk 50 having its periphery notched to form a shoulder 51engaged by a finger 52 extending laterally from the rear end of thelever 45. A coil spring 53 is secured to the rocking lever 45 and to asuitable stationary part and tends to maintain the roller 46 in contactwith the cam 44. By the operation of the cam 44 it is evident thatthedabber will be vertically moved as desired. i

In general, the operation of the apparatus is as in other sheet feedersof the same general type, a bank of sheets being feathered out andcombed away one by one, the combing and the operation of the feed roll,however, being automatically stopped, in my apparatus, at such times asa sheet is passing under the detector finger.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In sheet feeding mechanism, the combination of a cut-out rack; anoscillatable cam; a cut-out pawl pivoted on said cam adapted to engagethe rack; means normally holding said pawl out of engagement with therack; a pivoted detector finger operable by the passage of a sheet ofpaper and adapted to cause the engagement of the pawl with the rack; avertically movable combing wheel; means operable by said cam for movingthe combing Wheel to its inoperative position; and yielding meanstending to return the cam to its normal position.

2. In sheet feeding mechanism, the combination of a reciprocatingcut-out rack; an oscillatable cam; a cut-out pawl pivoted on said camtending to engage the rack and having a shoulder on its hub; a detectorshaft; a detector finger secured thereto; an arm on the detector shaftadapted when the detector finger is lowered to engage the aforesaidshoulder to hold the pawl out of engagement with the rack; a verticallymovable combing wheel; means operable by said cam for moving the combingwheel to its inoperative position; and yielding means tending to returnthe cam to its normal position.

3.. In sheet feeding mechanism, the combination of a feed drum adaptedto feather the sheets; means for imparting a stepwise movement ofrotation to the drum including a ratchet wheel and a rock arm carrying apivoted pawl; a combing wheel; a detector finger; means conditioned foroperation by the lifting of the detector finger for raising the combingwheel; and means for lifting the pawl to cause cessation of the movementof the feed drum while the combing wheel is raised.

4;. Sheet-feeding mechanism constructed as set forth in claim 3 providedwith a dabber adapted to engage the feathered sheets; and means forbriefly engaging the dabber with the sheets at or about the time thecombing wheel is raised.

5. In sheet feeding mechanism, the combination of a feed drum; a ratchetwheel adapted to rotate the drum; a pivoted rock arm; a pawl carried bythe rock armv engaging the ratchet wheel; means for regularlyoscillating the rock arm; means for holding the pawl out of engagementwith the ratchet wheel while the rock arm is oscillating; a

vertically movable combing wheel; a piv oted detector finger operable bythe passage of a sheet of paper; means conditioned for operation by thelifting "of the detector finger for raising the combing wheel; and meansoperable by the operation of the combing wheel lifting means foractuating the aforesaid pawl lifting means whenever the combing wheel islifted.

6. In sheet fee-ding mechanism, the combination of a feed drum; aratchet wheel adapted to rotate the drum; a pivoted rock arm; a pawlcarried by the rock arm engaging the ratchet wheel; a lever of the firstorder fulcrumed on the frame; a connecting rod pivotally connected tothe rock arm and to one end of the lever; a rack bar slidable on theframe; a rocking member adapted to actuate the rack bar and the lever;constantly rotating shaft; means for converting the rotary movement ofsaid shaft into a rocking movement of the rocking member; a verticallymovable combing wheel; means normally inoperative actuable by the rackbar for raising the combing wheel; a detector finger adapted tocondition said means for operation.

7. Sheet feeding mechanism constructed as set forth in claim 6 providedwith means operable to hold the pawl out of engagement with the ratchetwheel while the rock arm is oscillating; and means operable by thecombing wheel raising means, when raising said wheel, for causing theoperation of the pawl raising means.

8. Sheet feeding means constructed as set forth in claim 6 provided witha vertically movable dabber adapted to engage the sheets between thefeed drum and combing wheel; and a cam on the constantly rotating shaftadapted to actuate the dabber at or about the time the combing wheel israised.

9. In sheet feeding means, the combination with a feed drum and combingwheel of a dabber adapted to engage the sheets between the feed drum andcombing wheel; a rock arm carrying the dabber; a shaft longitudinal ofthe machine to which the rock arm is connected; a rocking lever parallelwith the shaft; means whereby the rocking of the lever rocks the shaft;a con- 110 stantly rotating shaft; and a cam on said shaft engaging thelever.

Signed at Toronto, Can, this 17th day of November, 1920.

ERNEST E. PALMER.

